A Model 'Driver' for Martex Brand Towels by James Patterson

For many years, the West Point Manufacturing Company (WPMC) was one of the largest private employers in East Central Alabama, mostly in Chambers County. WPMC's corporate headquarters were on the banks of the vast Chattahoochee River in West Point, Georgia. West Point is in Troup County. The WPMC was incorporated in 1880.

WPMC located its textile mills in the city of Lanett and the unincorporated towns of River View, Langdale, Shawmut, and Fairfax. I grew up in Fairfax. In the 1980s, the towns were incorporated to form the City of Valley. The area is known as the Chattahoochee Valley.

Initially, railroads supplied cotton to the mills. By 1961, trucking had largely quickly overtaken railroads in the textile business. In the late 1960s, WPMC opened a modern textile mill in Huguley, Alabama. This mill had no rail access; it was located by an Interstate highway.

My parents and grandparents lived in Fairfax; they worked at the Fairfax Mill. My father also farmed and served with Alabama's Army National Guard. Ft. Harold Calhoun, a large National Guard Armory, was located in Fairfax. Harold Calhoun was a Purple Heart recipient killed in the early days of the Korean War.

(I wrote a story about Sgt. Calhoun for the Chattahoochee Valley Historical Society's newsletter, The Voice. As an Associate Member of the Korean War Veterans Association, I wrote a story about Calhoun for their magazine, The Graybeards. I am a contributing writer for the magazine.)

My father's Guard duty included service during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 1963 integration of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and, in 1965, the third Selma to Montgomery march led by Nobel Peace Prize-recipient Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ft. Harold Calhoun has an important place in Alabama's and our nation's civil rights history. It deserves to have its historical significance officially recognized by the State.

While growing up in Fairfax, residents referred to the WPMC as "The Mill Company." It caused some folks to jokingly question if WPMC produced towels or mills.

The Mill Company built and rented houses to its employees. The Mill Company operated most city services, including garbage, sewage, water systems, etc. Historians called such towns Mill Villages. In hindsight, it was an interesting place to grow up.

By the mid-1950s, WPMC got out of the rental business; it sold houses to its renters. My grandparents told me after they bought their house, they swapped houses with another family. House swapping?

The above photo was taken at the Fairfax Kindergarten. As our class enjoyed some outside playtime, a female reporter and a male photographer joined us. They selected a group of six of us for the photo which appeared in the Mill Company's magazine, "The West Pointer." Archived issues of The West Pointer are at the Chambers County Public Library and Cobb Archives, in Valley, Alabama.

At the time the photo was taken, racial segregation was the law in Alabama. Black kids were not allowed to attend the kindergarten. The kindergarten was operated by the WPMC.

In Fairfax, segregation was not strictly enforced in most businesses. I saw no "White Only" signs in any businesses. Lafayette, the county seat for Chambers County, was strictly segregated. My parents, at times, had to go to Lafayette for business. As a youth, it was always a scary experience going there. People were unpredictable. People knew that my father served in the National Guard. We never knew what could happen. It was a scary time.

My parents were very happy with the kindergarten photo. They kept a framed copy of it in the living room of our home. The Martex 'Special' truck was made by employees of Fairfax Mill.

Fairfax Mill and Fairfax were known as "The Home of Martex." Fairfax was also called "Towel Town." By 1960, the mill was nearly 230,000 sq. ft. I recall seeing a purple neon light for "Martex" atop Fairfax Mill. It was lit most nights. (When I lived in San Francisco, a neon sign for the Castro Theatre reminded me of the neon Martex sign from the Towel Town, Alabama, of my youth.)

The Martex Towel is a luxury towel. The WPMC bought the brand from a Philadelphia company. WPMC bought machinery from Germany to produce and dye towels. By the time this photo was taken, Martex towels were in hotels, mansions, department stores, Pullman trains, steamers and elsewhere. The Martex brand was sold worldwide.

All of the mills mentioned have been leveled. Martex towels are made in the Middle East. The Martex brand is owned by Carl Icahn Enterprises.

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James Patterson

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